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A family from Santiago reported on social media this Wednesday about alleged medical negligence at the Juan de la Cruz Martínez Maceira Pediatric Hospital, commonly known as ONDI, where a one-year-old girl remains in critical condition.
The case was revealed by Richard Puente Barreiro, who posted a public complaint on Facebook regarding what happened to his niece Sheila Sinai Escobar Puente, who is only one year and two months old, and was hospitalized following an alleged case of medical malpractice at the pediatric institution in Santiago de Cuba.
According to the family's account, the girl was admitted on November 17, 2025, with fever, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Although she showed signs of mild dehydration, the attending doctor "decided to administer a 30% dextrose IV and send her home."
Minutes later, the minor began to convulse, exhibited a high fever, and had to be urgently transferred to intensive care, where doctors diagnosed her with diabetic ketoacidosis.
The little girl debuted with type 1 diabetes, presenting with a blood glucose level of 34 mmol/L, a pH of 6, tachycardia, and persistent seizures.
Currently, Sheila is intubated and in critical condition, suffering from multiple organ failure and damage to her brain, liver, kidneys, and heart.
According to the complaint, he even suffered "a cardiac arrest for 10 minutes."
Family members are directly holding the medical staff responsible for the "negligent administration of 30% dextrose," which they claim triggered the metabolic crisis and worsened her health condition.
They indicated that they have already filed a formal complaint with the hospital administration and demanded severe penalties against those responsible.
Puente added that the doctors "are now trying to justify the harm by claiming the presence of a virus, when it is evident that the improper use of the serum was the catalyst for this tragedy."
"We ask the medical community, health authorities, and Cuban society not to allow this case to go unpunished. Sheila deserves justice. Her family deserves answers. And other children deserve responsible care," concludes the statement published on social media.
This case is not isolated. Similar situations have been reported in various provinces of the country, such as in Camagüey, where a mother and her newborn daughter died following alleged medical negligence at the Ana Betancourt Maternity Hospital.
According to family members, there was a delay in the diagnosis and a lack of response to evident complications.
Other recent testimonies point to the collapse of the healthcare system. A mother in Matanzas reported the complete lack of resources, doctors, and reagents to treat her son, highlighting the structural deficiencies that many families face when going to hospitals in search of timely care.
The situation has even led professionals in the sector to publicly express their ethical conflicts.
A Cuban doctor in Holguín stated that he had to betray his principles due to the lack of resources and imposed administrative decisions, highlighting an institutional crisis beyond individual mistakes.
Another tragic event shook public opinion when a young woman lost her baby in a hospital in Camagüey after reporting that she was not attended to in time.
The pattern of delays, inadequate diagnoses, and medical neglect recurs in each of these stories, calling into question the system's ability to provide basic health care services.
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